Spruce up your salads with this crunchy Spring Thai Salad topped with Peanut Sauce. Perfect for a light lunch or as a dinner side with some protein.
Oh hi humid weather, so nice to see you again. I see you’re visiting a little early this year does this mean you’ll leave sooner?
I’ve noticed I talk about the weather A LOT. I think it’s a New Yorker thing, we all talk about it. In the fall you hear, it’s such a nice cool day and look at the leaves. In the spring you hear, 70 degree weather it’s a perfect day and look at the blossoms. In the winter and summer we just complain.
It’s like obsessing with the weather is ingrained into my DNA. I have to look at it when I get up and then I check again before I leave. Maybe it’s because we are always on the go, on our feet and want to be prepared. No one wants to be stuck outside commuting during a surprise rain storm without an umbrella (and in the wrong shoes for that matter).
So since it’s now humid and sticky out I’m loathing to turn on my oven. I had to do it yesterday and it was a hot box in my apartment even with the windows and fan going.
Sure I could have turned on the a/c but I feel wrong doing it before Memorial Day. Guess I’ll have to suck it up and start my summer salad diet.
Not that this is a bad thing but salads can get boring. This time around I wanted to add crunch, use a bunch of spring vegetables and add a little Thai element to it all.
I had a box of rice noodles sitting in my pantry that helped bulk up the salad a bit and leave you feeling plenty full when you’re done. What’s also great about this salad is that you can prep those vegetables way in advance. Chop up a big bunch for the week and then just cook your noodles before you’re ready to eat. One tip of advance, rinse those babies as soon as they are done cooking otherwise you’re going to be stuck with a giant pile of sticky rice noodles. A little toss in the spicy peanut dressing won’t hurt either.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup creamy, natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoons sriracha
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup water
- 1/4 box rice noodles, cooked according to the package and rinse to keep from sticking
- 5 asparagus stalks, tough ends removed, blanched and cut into thirds
- 2 medium carrots, cut into sticks
- 1 medium zucchini, spiralized or thinly cut on a mandoline
- 1 cup snap peas, blanched and halved
- 1/2 English cucumber, seeds removed, cut into sticks
- 1 bell pepper (red, yellow, or orange), cut into thin strips
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 cup peanuts to top
Instructions
- In a small bowl whisk together the peanut butter, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and sriracha. Start to add the water to the peanut butter 1/4 cup at a time until the peanut butter thins out and has the consistency of salad dressing. You'll use between 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water. If you feel like it's still thick add 1 tablespoon of water at a time. Store leftover sauce in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
- In a large salad bowl add the cooked rice noodles and zucchini noodles and toss together. Arrange the asparagus, carrots, snap peas, cucumber and bell pepper on top. Garnish the salad with chopped cilantro and peanuts. Drizzle peanut sauce over the top and toss together before serving.
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It’s the humidity that I’m over already. The heat is fine, but when everything in my fridge starts dripping condensation if I open the door for 5 seconds, it’s too humid. Thai peanut sauce is definitely part of my love language. Thanks for reminding me to make a cold noodle salad with it soon!
I hardly ever check the weather. haha always just ask my husband, and go by what he says haha, that’s awful isn’t it. I’ve been trying to keep my oven turned off too so I’ve got to make this!
Humidity has already “landed” on the east coast? Is that not way too early? – I think complaining about the weather is a universal thing and it happens here as well. Too hot for the season, too little rain, too much rain…
I love salads with an Asian flair and your version sounds fantastic; thank you for the reminder on the rice noodles. I may have had some negative experience with that previously 🙂
Oh my gosh – we’ve gone from cold and windy to hot and humid in the past week too! This salad looks great!
It’s freezing here right now. No clue why. It was hot for a New York minute then bam, chilly again. SO annoying.
I am really loving this recipe. It’s so perfect. I love a salad with crunch.
I’m with you on the humid weather! I live in RI and it went from cold to summer in a matter of days. Spring never arrived!I’m a lover of salads and that peanut sauce sounds amazing!
It was 90 degrees on Tuesday. I guess we’re just going to skip spring and go right to summer. Thanks, Mother Nature. I’ll need all the salad I can get. Pass the plate.